Spring-wheel.



J. E. STANNARD.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION rum: 001220, 1909.

1,008,158. Patented Sept. 12, 1911.

2 BHEETSSHE ET 1.

WITNESSES.- 9 7 I LVVEA'TOR. 5; WMM M W V t 24 B BY m v ATTORNEYAS;

J. E. STANNARD.

SPRING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED 0012.20, 1909.

Pafiented Sept. 12,1911.

2 SHEETEr-SHEET 2.

R. K m WW A WE PWM lm UNITED s ATns PATENT ()FFIGE.

JOHN E. STANNARI), or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,

' FRANCIS .T.. M LLEA, AND GEORGE W. D. UPTON.

SPRING-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented SeptQlZ, 1911.

Application filed October 20, 1909. Serial No. 523,659.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. STANNARD, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts,- have invented a new and useful Spring-\Vheel, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle wheels designed todispense with the use of pneumatic tires, and more particularly toimprovements in the wheel covered by United States Letters Patent, No.901,7 51,

ofOctober 20, 1908, and said invention consists in a general way ofcertain peculiar springs and means for attaching, fastening or securingsaid springs to the hub of a wheel and to the rim of said wheel, suchsprings being the substitutes for ordinary spokes, all as hereinafterset forth.

The objects of my invention are, first, to produce a wheel which is soinherently yielding and elastic or resilient that no pneumatic tire isneeded to give to such wheel the cushioning and other effects desired;second, to provide a wheel of this kind that is strong and durable andat the same time comparatively light and simple in construction, can beeasily assembled and taken apart and reassembled for repairs, and iswith-a1 entirely satisfactory and efficient for the purpose for which itis intended, and, third, to afford means of great practicability, in aspring wheel, for securely attaching or fastening springs in position inthe wheel. I attain these objects by the means illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheelwhich embodies a practical form of my invention, the face-plate beingomitted from the hub; Fig. 2, a sectional view of the hub taken on lines2-2, looking in the direction of the arrow, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sideelevation of one-half of a complete wheel similar to that shown in thefirst view excepting that the rim-attaching means for the springsdiffer; Figs. 4 and 5, each a fragmentary view illustrating a slightlydilferent method of attachingthe spring to the rim from but on generalprinciples similar to thatslrown isview'disolosing a modifiedform ofspring, *and, Fig. 8, a sectionaljview,similarto Fig. 1 showing theapplication of check nuts to the mainge ck; h

'- to said hub,

- ings, and each consists of two radial Figs. 6 and], cache fragmentarySimilar figures refer to similar parts, throughout the several views.

A spring having the general form or shape of a heart has been found tobe the best substitute for spokes in spring Wheels, hence I adhere tothis form or shape in the present case, but procure it by employing and"combining for each"heart adjacent arms or branches of two independentsprings of peculiar construction. The apexes of these hearts are formedby the portions of the periphery of the hub that are between the pointswhere the springs are attached and the opposite or indented ends of thehearts are formed by the members to which the ends of the springs areattached and by such ends themselves. The springs are represented at lin the drawbers joined or connected at their inner ends and rollingoutwardly or away from each other at their free terminals to form lobes3-3. The radial members of the springs 1 need not and usually will notbe true radii of the wheel into the construction of which said springsenter. The lobes 3 may be tangent to the radial members of the springs,as in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5, or they may be united with said members in amore complex manner, as in Fig. '6 where the center of each lobe is inline with the member with which said lobe is connected, or in Fig. 7where each lobe is tangent to the memthe end of her with which said lobeis connected if said member were continued to meet the lobe. What may betermed the heel of each spring 1, that is, the connecting part'betweenthe two radial members of said spring,

is preferably curved so as to avoid too abrupt bends in the spring,although this particular shape is not imperatlve. Other changes in theshape of the springs may be made, provided there be the principal orgeneral configuration. In a wheel, the springs 1 are ahub 4 andindirectly .to a fellyor rim :5. A tire of solid rubber. orother'suitablema terial is represented at A Figs landfir s .a means for.securely attachin'fithe ,inner' Ueshaped or heel portions 0% "thesprings 1 "to the hub 4 I prefer to em loy a plurality of binding hlocks7am 6 bolts 8, said'heel-p .ortions or heels and said'blocks attacheddirectly tono departure from bein received into recesses 9 formed atregu ar intervals in the periphery of said hub, I and said bolts passingthrough the peripheries of said blocks and through said heels intothreaded engagement with the body of the hub. The recesses 9, which areI of suitable size, shape and depth to properly accommodate the springheels and the binding-blocks 7, open through the outer face and theperiphery of the hub 4, and

said outer face or side openings are closed by means of an annularface-plate 10 fastened to said hub on theoutside by means of bolts 11,holes 12 for such bolts being tapped into the hub, as, shown in thefirst view. The face-plate 1O aifords additional security for thesprings at the hub. .It will be observedthat the spring heels fit intothe recesses 9, and that the binding-blocks 7 also fulfilling everyrequirement, as will be readily understood.

The lobes 3 of the springs 1 may be fastened by means of bolts 13 andnuts 14 to the inner ends of simple radial rods 15 which extendinwardlyfrom the rim 5, just as is done in the aforesaid patented wheel,

and as I show'here in Figs. 1, 6 and 7, but I consider the devices shownin Figs. 3, 4 and'5 as being used in lace of said rods to be superior tothe r0 5 in matters of strength the rim 5 and extend inwardly from said"rim between the and durability. The devices just mentioned consist ofshoes or stirrup-pieces 16 which are bolted or otherwise securely,fastened to free terminals of the springs 1, which terminals are securedto the inwardly-extending portions of said stirruppieces by bolts 13 andnuts 14 or other suitable means. These shoes or stirrup-pieces presentconcave surfaces for the lobes 3, at and adjacent to their freeends,.and so fur- .nish supports for the springs 1 at points where saidsprings might be liable to break undersudden or undue stress, strain orshock, without detractingfrom or lessening the efiicien'cy of thesprings. Thestirruppieces 16, in Fig. 3, are flat strips or straps ofmetal in cross-section, bolted intermediate of their terminals to the,inside of the rim 5. The terminals of these stirruppieces curve inwardlyand come together between the free ends of the springs 1 which aresecured thereto. These stirrup-pieces and those in the next View may insome cases and under-some circumstances add a little to the llVelHleSSof the wheels in which they are incorporated. The stirruppieces 16, inFig. 4, differ from those in the preceding' view only in that there aredouble the number in the Fig.4 construction, it being as though asection were cut out of the middle of each stirrup-piece in the Fig. 3construction immediately adjacent to the space between the lobes 3 ofthe attached spring 1. To state it differently, there is onestirrup-piece for each spring in Fig. 3, and two stirrup-pieces for.each spring in Fig. 4. As clearly represented in Fig. 5, thestirrup-pieces may be made solid, there usually being-as many of thesestirrup-pieces as there are springs, although. they are arrangeddifferently from corresponding members in Fig. 3, since eachstirrup-piece according to the Fig. 5 construction and arrangement islocated adjacent and contiguous to the intimately associated lobes 3 oftwo neighboring springs. The solid stirrup-pieces aiiord practically thesame kind of anchorage for the free terminals of the springs 1 that dothe strap stirrup-pieces, and furnish similar rollways or bearingsurfaces for the lobes 3.

The use of the stirrup-piece structures is not limited to the springsshown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

The special advantages of the shoes or stirrup-pieces 16 over the rods15 are clearly apparent from the explanation herein given taken inconnection with the illustrations in which said shoes or stirrup-piecesare presented.

The Wheel should be constructed in such a way that the springs 1 do nottouch each other or the rim 5, even when said springs are under maximumcompression;

If additional security for the heels of the springs 1 be desired, thehub 4 may be recessed in the face-plate side inside of the recesses 9,as shown at 17 in the last view, and check-nuts 18 employed on the innerends of the bolts 8 in said recesses, said bolts screwing into the hubas before and said nuts being tightened on the bolts against the hub.The face-plate 10, when in place, covers the open ends of the recesses17. I

In order to remove a spring 1 from the wheel for any reason all that itis necessary to do is to unscrew the particular bolt 8 that confines theheel of said spring withv the aid of one of the binding-blocks 7, afterloosening the check-nut 18 on said bolt, provided there be a nutthereon, and take 'ofi the nuts 14 and slip out the bolts 13 whichfasten the lobes 3 of-said spring to two of the rods 15 or to theassociated stirruppieces 16, as the case may be. Generally, too, it willbe necessary to unfastenthe faceplate 10, sincethe parts should be soproportioned that sa1d plate when forced against the hub 4 by the bbltsl1 bears so hard on the binding-blocks 7 ,',and possibly on the outeredges of the heels cf the springs attach said heels to as weii, thatnone of these last-mentioned members could be removed easily if at allwithout loosenin said bolts. The re lacin of the same or accomplished.

That th wheel is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications, inaddition to already pointed out with greater or less explicitness,which. do not depart from the nature my invention, is obvious, hence itis my intent to'include within thescope of my claims all changes andmodifications which I am justly entitled.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure Letters r atent, is-

l. A spring wheel comprising a hub, a rim, a plurality of springs eachconsisting of connected substantially radial members which at theirouter terminals first approach each other and then are directedoutwardly or away from each other and turn inwardly toward said hub inthe form of lobes, means to attach said springs to said hub, and meansto attach the free ends of said lobes to said rim. r

2. A spring Wheel comprising a hub, a rim, a plurality of springsentirely out: of contact one with another, and each consisting ofsubstantially radial members con nected to form a heel and which attheir outer terminals first approach each other and then are directedoutwardly or away from each other and turn inwardly toward said hub inthe form of lobes, means to said hub, and means to attach the free endsof said lobes to said rim without the former touching normally thelatter,

8. The combination, in a spring wheel, of

another spring is as readily I a hub, a rim, concave shoes orstirrup-pieces fastened to said rim and having portions which projectinward toward said hub, a plurality of springs having arcuate terminalsto hear on said stirrup-pieces and to conform to a greater or lessextent to the bearing surfaces of the same according to the amount ofcompression of said springs, means to attach the arcuate portions ofsaid springs to said stirrup-pieces, and means to attaclr the said hub.

4. The combination, in a spring wheel, of a hub, a rim, concave shoes orstirrup-pieces secured on'the inside of said rim and having fasteningportions which extend inward toward said hub, a plurality of springs theouter terminals of which are in the form of lobes adapted to havingtheir free ends attached to said fastening portions of said stirruppieces, means to attach said free end of the lobes to the fasteningportions of the stirrup-pieces, and means to attach the hub portions ofthe springs to said hub, the construction and arrangement being suchthat more or less of each lobe is in contact with a stirrup-pieceaccording to the amount of compression of said springs, the contactingarea varying with the amount of compresslon. v

5. The combination,

hub portions of said springs to in a spring-wheel, of a recessed hub, arim, concave shoes or stirrup-pieces secured-to said rim and havingportions which extend inward toward said hub, a plurality of springsentirely out of contact with each other and each consisting of radialmembers connected to form a heel and directed outwardly or away fromeach other at their free terminals to form lobes, the free ends of whichlatter are directed inward toward said hub, binding-blocks adapted tofit the recesses in said hub out side of the heels of said springs,bolts to secure said blocks and springs to said hub, said bolts passingthrough the blocks and springs into the hub, and means to secure theinwardly-directed end portions of the lobes of the springs to the invardly extending portions of said stirrup pieces, the construction andarrangement being such that more or less of each lobe is in contact witha stirrup-piece according to the amount of compression of said springs,the contact ing area varying with the amount of compression.

' JOHN E. STANNARD.

Witnesses: a

F. A. CUTTER,

ALLEN WEBSTER.

